How to Choose Sports Drinks for Youth Athletes

Drinking fluids is arguably the single, most important aspect of youth sports for safety and performance. Make sure you choose the best ones for your child.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bottled Water
• Diluted Fruit Juices
• Sports Drinks
• Water Bottles
• Sports drinks

1. Choose what they like. Research has shown that children will drink more of something they like.

2. Don't assume you need a special sports drink. Diluted fruit juice is also a good option.

3. Understand special sports drinks. Although these drinks are most useful for endurance activities over one hour in duration, there is evidence that they can aid performance in shorter bursts of intense sports.

4. Dilute sports drinks with water if necessary. Some athletes find them too sweet or heavy and get stomach cramps.

5. Don't forget water. Athletes should drink sufficient amounts of fluids, which includes both water and sports drinks.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure children drink enough. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that a person drink 4 to 8 ounces of fluid for every 15 to 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity, like soccer.
• Drink before and after. Active athletes should also drink 16 to 20 ounces just before playing and again immediately after.
• Explore the possibility of placing personal drink bottles along the sidelines to use during breaks in a game.
• Take large-sized personal drink bottles, which hold more than the smaller squeeze bottles, to practices and games.
• Remind your child that it is a bad idea to drink from a communal bottle or from each other's bottles, as infections can be spread this way.

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